12 December 2007
Bujumbura — Burundi and Rwanda are still unable to agree on their common border. Commissions that were dispatched by the two countries to find common ground on the common border have failed to reach any agreement. Burundi's minister for Cooperation, Ms Antoinette Batumubwira, and her Rwandan counterpart, Mr. Charles Murigande, have agreed to make recourse to Belgium which colonised both countries.
The problem concerning the common border arose in 2006 when the Rwandan Patriotic Army deployed in Sabanegwa, a locality situated in Ngozi province. At that time, the government of Burundi did not intervene in time, but the Rwandan patriotic army had to pull out following a deployment of Burundi's National Defence Forces on the initiative of a junior officer.
The border between Burundi and Rwanda is not clear-cut at some places. To prevent violent conflict, these two countries decided to set up commissions to analyse this problem of borderline. These commissions have met four times with no results. After Sabanegwa and other areas of Kirundo, the problem has moved to the equatorial rainforests of Kibira and Nyungwe.
It is not easy to find a solution to the border problem. Many Burundians cultivate their lands in Rwanda and vice versa. Surprisingly, this issue never rose under the rule of the late General Major Juvenal Havyarimana in Rwanda.
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